Monday, February 6, 2012

I am honored to be guest posting on Scarred Seeker, after finding the post about getting discussion going about bullying.

Yes! We must get discussion going, I so agree…and we must guide this process so that the discussion is not laden with “would’ve, could’ve and should’ve”, but rather with proactive language and plans. It’s not that hard!

We WILL…find out what bullying prevention plan are school is using, and how they are using it!

We WILL…enrich our own lives and happiness by taking the things we are teaching our children and use them ourselves!

We WILL…understand that when another child uses a bully action on our loved one, both of the participants are children.

We WILL…set boundaries with people in our life and show our children how to send the message that I must be treated with respect!

We WILL….TALK!

"What is the one thing that YOU will do right away to help with the bullying issue?"

Please feel free to share in comments and we'll get the conversation started right here!

Please, sign up for our No Such Thing as a Bully newsletter at http://nosuchthingasabully.com to receive a link to the“ The Almost Book: Almost 50 Things That Almost Anyone Can Do About Almost Any Kind Of Bullying"

It’s not really about finding the “right” thing or the “best” thing to do. It’s just about doing something…and that includes talking.

Kelly Karius is the co-author of “No Such Thing as a Bully”, a program intended to move away from the traditional labeling solutions that have been used in the past, to a full school, community and family solution. More information found at http://nosuchthingasabully.com

Thursday, February 2, 2012

It breaks my heart. So many people I know and care about are living with bullies in their lives. In their homes. Their church. Their families. They think they have to accept that. It makes me so sad.

They don't know they don't have to accept bullies in their lives. They don't want to face that they have allowed bullies to continue to be in their lives. They fear to face the thought that those bullies are teaching a new generation of bullies and are wounding those who can't stand up to them. They live in fear.

We talk about bullies in school. We talk about bullies in the work place. What about those in church? What about those on TV? What about those who sit at our table for breakfast?

Who is talking about those bullies? (hey...notice that resounding silence? Yeah I did too!)

We are going to be! Scarred Seeker is taking on the bullies! We are going to talk about stopping the bullying. Speaking up and showing our kids that as adults we aren't going to be bullies and we are not going to be bullied!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I can hear you saying, "No! Really? Wow...so what's new?" and yes I'd normally agree that this isn't quite the earth shaking announcement it could be. But this really is shattering for me. And after you are done reading perhaps a bit rattling for you as well.

My son is studying jujitsu, it is a class for little guys to learn about being safe and it is about not being bullied or being a bully. It is about sticking up for not only yourself but others as well.

The children trust each other and you can see it when they practice and play together.They trust their sensei too. He shows them, he teaches them. Everyone is included. They understand the sublime message of truly learning this martial art - when you are in class you can trust your partners, your sensei, your training. By learning that trust there, where it is safe, you can use your skills with confidence outside of class.

That is not what shattered me though. That is just an observation to set the scene.

We arrived early yesterday to class and got to observe Sensei training with another practitioner. They were working on holds. Choke holds. Neck holds.

I overheard them talking and started to realize there were only two ways out of the holds if both people were equally skilled. One you pass out and the other person lets you go because they won. Two you tap them and they let you go.

The trust is in the tap. They could feel the hold, they dissected it and they talked about it. I watched, they were putting it all into doing those holds right. You knew it was right when you saw the tap. Then the one doing the hold let go. He stopped immediately.

There I am, a Mama and survivor, and I'm shaking. My heart is racing. My hands are sweaty. I'm thinking I could never do this. I can't trust like that. There is a real trust there. Something that is fundamental to the art.

I want to take his women's self defense class next month. I want to try. For my friends who are coming. For the person I trust to teach my son. For myself. I don't know if I can do it.

I tried talking to my husband about how I feel. But I didn't really get to the trust part, I was still stuck back in the automatic self preservation mode explanation. But after seeing J and M working on the holds together I started to understand. It is the trust I need to work on.

Trust people inside my zone. Trust people to put their hands on me to teach me. Not to hurt me. To teach me. I need to trust them enough so I can let my guard down so I can learn. Letting the guard down means really being in the moment, being present there and now. Not in the past where I learned to break free and stay free of holds. Nor in the future when I might need to do so again. I need to be present, there fully, and be able to trust and learn.

I'll keep you posted, see how this part of the journey goes. For the Scarred Seeker is still scarred and she is still seeking...